On this blog I'll post a daily forecast/report of the surf/windsurf conditions in Maui.
Email me if you need to rent a place in Maui or if you need a surf, SUP, foil or windsurf lesson.

Sunday, September 05, 2010

canoe bliss + lil forecast

A few days ago I took my one man canoe to the south shore and caught some little waves.

This one decided to take me all the way to the beach.

Here's another wave to give you a different perspective. To the right of the screen there's a beautiful one and a half footer peeling right... too bad you can't see it. I caught it on the shoulder at an angle towards the breaking section and at one point some serious steering was needed to keep the boat going straight.

Pat Caldwell is not available these days so the burden of wave forecast for Hawaii falls entirely on my shoulders :) It's been flat (allright, extremely small) for a week now. Not even that windy and slightly onshore. It would have been perfect for trying kitesurfing actually, but I managed again to avoid that.There's a very mild improvement ahead though.

Here's the North Pacific weather map of today Sept 5.As you can see there's a tiny little fetch all the way up there, but the high pressure is too strong and that storm is going to move north of the Aleutians very quickly. Eventually we'll get some small waves out of the NW around Wednesday/Thursday, but I would not count on that too much.

Things can change, but judging from these preliminary signs, this winter is NOT looking good my friends...Oh well, a shitty winter in Maui is still way better than a shitty winter anywhere else.

This is the South Pacific weather map of Sept 3 instead. A couple of days before, the fetch that you see right over and east of New Zealand was in the Tasman sea (west of New Zealand) and I have the feeling that that part of the swell will actually be better. Anyway, some small waves starting around Thursday Sept 9. Again, nothing to be really excited about, but better than what we have now.

Oh there we go. This is the Surfline version for Oahu's south shore:a large complex storm system has recently been developing under and SE of New Zealand. However, this fetch was split in half by New Zealand; half on the Tasman Sea side and half on the Pacific side. Nonetheless, we're looking for a SW (215-205 deg) shifting SSW (200-190 deg) groundswell to start creeping in on Thursday the 9th and top out Fri-Sat the 10th-11th with mainly knee-waist high surf on the South Shore. Standout spots are occasionally up to chest high on the larger sets.

But the real good news (at least for me) is this. This is the weather map forecasted to happen Sept 8. A beautiful long fetch aimed at central america.

The angular spreading of the related swell should reach Trestles just in time for when I'll be there on the 16th for three full days, surfing with my friend Gianfranco and watching the ASP contest.The contest's waiting period actually starts on the 12, but hopefully the event organizers will wait for the better waves before running it.

As a confirmation of my forecast, the Surfline 14 days forecast table for North Orange County shows 3-4 feet, 19 seconds out of 205 for Thursday and 4-5 feet, 17 seconds out of 205 on Friday. Contest or not, it's going to be fun!!!

That'll be the start of an exciting one month trip that will take me to California, Italy, Ireland and London. More details on that to come.

GP, Don't get so down and pessimistic about this coming winter. It is still summer you know. Trying to will the npac into action in August and September isn't going to make real winter come any sooner. Patience grasshopper......

Scrouto,I could easily set up a live webcast from my loo too, but I doubt I would get many watchers...Gostaria falar portugues, btw.

Yo Dave,I was commenting real metereological data. Have you noticed the complete lack of hurricanes this year in the subtropical north Pacific?The ocean off central america is colder than usual. That's called la Nina and it sucks.

I'm actually stoked that the winter is not showing up yet, since I'm about to leave.Hopefully by the time I'm back in mid October there will be waves (and my foot will be closer to be 100% healed).It could be a good winter for your side, since most storms will probably travel a little more north than usual.Have you seen Zane's photo on the last Windsurfing Mag? Unreal!

Hi GP! I've been SUPPING heaps since the day I bought my equipment in mid April. Even had close encounters with dolphins, the experience is plain heavenly!!!!!!!!Thanks for your tips re SUP equipment!:)Jo

Plenty availability of studios and apts in Paia and the north shore.

About Me

Born and raised in Italy, I became an engineer and worked 11 years in the IT industry. Sick of that, in 2001 I wanted to take a year off and spend it in Maui, the best windsurfing spot in the world. Not only I'm still here (in Maui), but I also got into surfing. And the stoke is flying high. Life is too short to work 8 hours a day...